The Carman Beavers closed out their SEMHL regular season schedule Friday night with an 11–8 loss to the league-leading Winkler Royals in a fast-paced, high-scoring contest.
Carman kept pace for much of the night, trading goals throughout the opening two periods and showing offensive depth against the Royals, who entered the game atop the league standings.
Winkler struck early, scoring twice in the opening 90 seconds, but the Beavers responded midway through the first period on a goal from Kale Ilchena, assisted by Dean Gorchynski and captain Tyler Park. Park added a power-play marker late in the frame to pull Carman within one heading into the intermission.
The teams continued to exchange goals in the second period, with Carman tallies from Gorchynski, Jackson Reimer, Riley Goertzen and Everett Bestland keeping the Beavers within striking distance. Despite the pushback, Winkler carried a 7–6 lead into the third.
Scott Atkins scored twice in the third period to draw Carman even at 8–8, but the Royals regained the lead on James Penner’s goal at 2:56 and pulled away late with a power-play marker and a shorthanded empty-net goal to secure the win.
Luke Zacharias and Dan Wenham split duties in goal for Carman, combining for 60 minutes as Winkler generated heavy pressure throughout the game. Carman went 1-for-3 on the power play, matching Winkler’s efficiency with the man advantage.
The loss leaves the Beavers ninth in the SEMHL standings at 3-14-1 with seven points, rounding out the regular-season table as all nine teams advance to the playoffs.
With the regular season concluding Feb. 10, Carman will turn its focus to postseason play, which begins with a Survivor Series between the eighth- and ninth-place teams. The winner of that series advances to face the first-place club, followed by best-of-five series in the first two rounds and a best-of-seven league final to determine the SEMHL champion.
